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[SOLVED] issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2019 11:36 pm
by Marty Feldman
Linux Mint 17.3, Cinnamon 64-bit, Cinnamon v. 2.8.6, on a desktop computer, browser = Firefox, AdblockPlus installed. System has worked flawlessly until now.

Having just allowed a large number of recommended updates to install, certain difficulties have arisen. One involves the inability of a game program (Jigidi, jigsaw puzzles) to load pictures. It reports that my FlashPlayer is outdated. On Adobe's update page, the UpdateNow button is disabled, presumably because I have to first select one of the following 3 versions of Flash for Linux: YUM, .tar.gz, .rpm. Which one do I want?
Thanks in advance for any help with this.

-Marty-

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 8:53 am
by kato181
I'm pretty sure LM 17.3 is nearing its use by date, hence the errors probably. I get no errors from adobe flash update, although i am using LM 19 and LM 19.1 and LM 18.3. You could also try removing the flash update and try to reinstall it again from synaptic.
So it maybe an update version related problem. Try updating your kernel or update LM to a later version.
good luck.

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 9:40 am
by karlchen
Hello, Marty Feldman.

The most recent Adobe Flash Player plugin currently still is 32.0.0.114.
Mint 17.3 Update Manager should have offered you to install Flash32.0.0.114 weeks ago already. (No need to download anything from Adobe directly. This is Linux, not Windows.)
Software maintenance for Mint 17.3 will end at the end of April 2019, no sooner, hence Mint 17.3 should have Flash 32.0.0.114 at this point in time.

Question is:
Which Flash version does your broswer use? - You can check on this webpage: Adobe Flash Player

In case it is something older than Flash 32.0.0.114, then it would be interesting to learn what the terminal command

Code: Select all

apt-cache policy adobe-flashplugin
displays.

Regards,
Karl

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 12:47 pm
by Marty Feldman
Karl -

Many thanks for your help. Because I allowed all updates to install, I will assume from your comment that I have the latest Flash (32.00.114) installed, although I do not know how I can verify that on my computer. Clicking on the Adobe link you gave me brings up a "Settings Manager" panel that is covered by a popup reading "This plugin is vulnerable and should be updated. Run Adobe Flash". I don't know exactly what they want me to do.

To refer back to the original problem with the Jigidi program, it will run OK up to the point at which it should show, and always has shown in the past, a screen with the jumbled jigsaw pieces ready to be moved and assembled. That view will not open. The error message that appears says, "Nothing happening? You may need the Flash Player. Or try out the HTML5-based version we're working on. This plugin is vulnerable and should be updated. Run Adobe Flash." Below that message is a clickable button "Check for Updates". That button, like everything else I tried, brings me to the same Adobe update download screen mentioned in my original post to this thread.
-Marty-

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 12:57 pm
by sleeper12
Jigidi should show a 'Click to enable Adobe Flash Player' option. Just click that, then click 'Allow' to run flash.

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 12:58 pm
by karlchen
Hi, Marty Feldman.

The fact that Firefox refuses to open the Adobe webpage, which does nothing more than launch a tiny Flash animation in order to display the currently used Flash version in your browser, suggests that Firefox is aware that you are not using Flash 32.0.0.114, but something much older.
You can check inside Firefox by entering about:plugins in the address bar. This should give you a very brief list of available plugins.
One of the will be labelled "Shockwave Flash". Firefox will display the precise version there, too.

The terminal commandline, which I had given you in my previous post, should provide this information as well.

Code: Select all

apt-cache policy adobe-flashplugin
Regards,
Karl

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 1:03 pm
by Marty Feldman
Karl -
Is this the information you were curious to see?

user@User-Mint-Machine ~ $ apt-cache policy adobe-flashplugin
adobe-flashplugin:
Installed: (none)
Candidate: 1:20190108.1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1
Version table:
1:20190108.1-0ubuntu0.14.04.1 0
500 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ trusty/partner amd64 Packages

-Marty-

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 1:29 pm
by Marty Feldman
Karl -
about:plugins gives the following

[i
Shockwave Flash

File: libflashplayer.so
Path: /opt/mint-flashplugin-11/libflashplayer.so
Version: 11.2.202.356
State: Enabled (STATE_VULNERABLE_UPDATE_AVAILABLE)
Shockwave Flash 11.2 r202
spl[/i]


So my assumption that the "latest" Flash was installed was not correct - my installed version seems to be 11xxxxx. What do I do to install the current version?

Within the Jigidi program, I do not see "Cick to enable Adobe Flash Player" and therefore do not see an "Allow" button. The only clickable thing in the program related to Flash brings me to the same old Adobe download screen mentioned in my original post.

-Marty-

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 3:15 pm
by karlchen
Hello, Marty.

Please, open a terminal window.
Execute this commandline first:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get update
"sudo apt-get update" will refresh the list of available software packages.
Next execute the commandline:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install adobe-flashplugin adobe-flash-properties-gtk
This commandline will install the current flash software packages.
It should inform you that it needs to uninstall mint-flash-plugin first. It will ask for your confirmation.
Provided it suggests to uninstallmint-flash-plugin, this is OK, type y and press enter.
(In the unlikely case, it should suggest to remove more packages, type n and press enter, and the commandline will abort its operation, without changing anything.)

Best regards,
Karl

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 11:46 pm
by Marty Feldman
My apologies for being so clueless about this, but "CODE:SELECT ALL" ---> "Command not found"

-Marty-

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2019 11:55 pm
by sleeper12
Best to copy & paste the commands so you get them correct. If you type, type them exactly including the spaces.

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Fri Feb 08, 2019 6:21 am
by karlchen
Marty Feldman wrote: Thu Feb 07, 2019 11:46 pmMy apologies for being so clueless about this, but "CODE:SELECT ALL" ---> "Command not found"
Marty, you misunderstand what the text "CODE: SELECT ALL" is meant for.
Below this line "CODE: SELECT ALL", there is a code box, holding a commandline. In order to make copying the commandline into the clipboard easier, there is the link "SELECT ALL".
If you click on "SELECT ALL", all the commandline in the code box below will be marked. And all you have to do is press <ctrl>C in order to copy the commandline into your clipboard.
Next you switch to the terminal window and press <ctrl><shift>V in order to paste the commandline into the terminal. Then you press enter to execute the commandline.

HTH.
Karl

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 4:25 pm
by Marty Feldman
Guys, thanks a lot for your patience.

Regarding the use of SELECT ALL, I have not been able to use it to select just the command. Clicking SelectAll highlights everything, the command and all preceding & following text, regardless of what I do or do not highlight first. What works, simply and flawlessly, is sleeper12's recommendation to just use copy/paste to get the command into Terminal.

When I did that and hit enter, I was not asked for confirmation about first uninstalling Flash. I was only asked for my password. It does want to install or alter a number of things (e.g, mint-meta-codec, libnspr4-0d installer,...). After the changes, "36.4 MB of additional disk space will be used". I believe but am not sure that all of the proposed and suggested alterations have to do with removing mint-flashplugin and replacing it with adobe-flash-properties-gtk adobe-flashplugin libhal1-flash. Nothing looks to me like a proposal to "remove more packages". At the bottom of a full screen of actions/suggestions/data, the bottom line asks me if I want to continue. My inclination is to hit Y. Sorry I am not able to send you the Terminal screen - it will not copy to my clipboard. OK to hit Y and continue with the installation?

-Marty-

-Marty-

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 10:36 pm
by sleeper12
If that's the result of entering sudo apt-get update, then yes, hit Y. If that finishes with no problem, enter the next command:
sudo apt-get install adobe-flashplugin adobe-flash-properties-gtk

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2019 5:48 pm
by Marty Feldman
OK, after the get update command ran I hit Y.
It finished, and I ran the sudo apt-get install adobe-flashplugin adobe-flash-properties-gtk command.
That finished, but did not end with any message that seemed to me to be informing me that it did anything about Flash. The last line (of many) on the Terminal screen reads: Processing triggers for libc-bin (2-19-0 ubuntu6.4)... The screen is now sitting there with $, ready for some other input.

I checked the original Jigidi site and there was no change. The puzzle-pieces image still would not load, and the Jigidi screen says: You probably need the Flash Player. In a separate popup it says: This plugin is vulnerable and should be updated. Run Adobe Flash.

-Marty-

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2019 5:55 pm
by karlchen
Hi, Marty.

In case you had Firefox loaded, while you uninstalled mint-flashplugin and installed adobe-flashplugin instead, in this case you have to terminate Firefox and then relaunch it.

The next step would be the step of checking which Flash player plugin your Firefox browser uses, cf. near the top of this thread here.

Regards,
Karl

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2019 7:24 pm
by Marty_L
Another Marty here - I have had the exact same thing happen with Flash. I have 6 security cameras the use Flash - that's one reason I bought them since most still use ActiveX (ugh). I view the camera video in my browser running on Linux. I ran the Mint Update last Fri. on my laptop (Mint 17.1) and my wife's desktop (Mint 17.3). The updates for both included a Firefox update. I'm pretty sure that's the source of the problem. I've tried removing and reinstalling both Adobe Flash and Firefox using the Package Manager and APT in a terminal. I've tried the Flash uninstaller in APT, I even tried extracting the libflashplayer.so from a tarball from the Adobe site and copying it to the mozilla/plugins directory. None of the various things I tried worked. I returned both machines to their post-update configuration and started looking at Firefox. In safe mode with plugins disabled, Firefox correctly identified the need for flash. Activating the plugin (version ends in .114 I think) in the Ask Mode and the little Flash symbol shows in the URL bar. When enabled a message 'buffering...' appears and that's all. Mozilla had lots of old fix suggestions but none worked.

So I finally gave up and switched to Chrome (not Chromium) and flash works great - better than it used to in Firefox. There are 2 extra mouse clicks needed when Flash needs to be started which is a minor irritation but at least it runs. I'll wait and see if the next Firefox update fixes this issue. Until then I'll stick with Chrome.

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Sun Feb 10, 2019 9:50 pm
by sleeper12
Marty Feldman wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 5:48 pm OK, after the get update command ran I hit Y.
It finished, and I ran the sudo apt-get install adobe-flashplugin adobe-flash-properties-gtk command.
That finished, but did not end with any message that seemed to me to be informing me that it did anything about Flash. The last line (of many) on the Terminal screen reads: Processing triggers for libc-bin (2-19-0 ubuntu6.4)... The screen is now sitting there with $, ready for some other input.

I checked the original Jigidi site and there was no change. The puzzle-pieces image still would not load, and the Jigidi screen says: You probably need the Flash Player. In a separate popup it says: This plugin is vulnerable and should be updated. Run Adobe Flash.

-Marty-
Those commands seem to have worked normally. Now, check Firefox plugins to see which flash version is being used. If it's still the old version (11.2.202.356), run this command to remove it, then reboot Firefox:
sudo rm -v /opt/mint-flashplugin-11/libflashplayer.so

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:13 pm
by Marty Feldman
about:plugins in Firefox showed that both the old (11.2.202.356) and new (32.0.0.114) versions of Flash were enabled, the old version tagged with "state vulnerable, update available".
I ran the sudo removal command to get rid of the old version.
Rebooted Firefox.
about:plugins then showed only the new version (32.0.0.114) installed.
Then tried loading a Jigidi image of the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to solve, and got the same old message. " Nothing happening? You probably need the Flash Player. Or try out the HTML5-based version we're working on."

-Marty-

Re: issue with update of Adobe Flash

Posted: Mon Feb 11, 2019 1:46 pm
by sleeper12
Go to Firefox plugins (Menu, Add-On's, Plugins) & be sure that Flash says 'Always Activate' or 'Ask to Activate' (your choice), NOT 'Never Activate'. Reboot Firefox & it should work (fingers crossed).